Ready for the flak

On October 9-10, the first Philippine call center job fair will take place right here at the palace Mendiola parking lot. Some twenty call center firms shall participate. I guess it was called the call center job fair precisely because the only booming industry in the country eager to mass hire are the call centers.

Try checking the job market in your Sunday paper and all you’re going to get are vacancies for call centers. Not just an opening for one or several positions but opening for ridiculously a lot of positions and these call centers have in fact gone to Cebu and Davao for expansion. The President has been very proud of this achievement that she continues to promote the industry as a viable source of employment.

Indeed these contact centers have so much to be proud of. They generate jobs, spur the economy and encourage an English-speaking workforce. The compensation package is also very good. So good that it has attracted some really good people I know.

But no matter how competitive the remuneration and bottomless coffee they offer, I don’t think I can stand working for call centers. Primarily because I don’t think it gives much for career development. I personally think it’s a dead-end job. I’m really not sure what kind of skills relevant to career advancement it imparts to its employees. I heard a lot of people say that the job is so easy it will make you stupid. This is because there is no analyzing, strategizing or problem-solving involved. Everything is scripted. Also it is the kind of job that I think is worry-free. You don’t have to worry about pending assignments at home or when you’re away because everything gets done in an instant. It is also in a way faceless. You don’t get to own whatever work you have accomplished and so I don’t know what kind of fulfillment you’ll get. Also, call centers hire anyone and everyone. There is no school, course, specialization or experience prerequisite. I heard they also hire undergrads. Talk about docile labor. Plus I think the work hours are crazy. The Philippines is not a country where everybody has cars that it’s perfectly safe to go out and work at night.

But with the difficult times we are facing, I can’t blame people for swarming to call centers. Where else will you be earning much more than the minimum wage for an effortless job in a really nice office right after graduation or even without graduating. But what pains me is how the call center phenomenon has taken away the drive for excellence and idealism in the youth. It is actually easy money. I have always believed that what you do defines you and in this case how exactly does being a customer service representative (CSR) define a person. What is s/he capable of doing? What are his/her abilities? Exactly what kind of work can a CSR accomplish? Further, I think this phenomenon also shows that my generation has chosen the less-difficult path, the path that says it’s okay to sacrifice self-actualization for monetary gain. What we have now are the kind of youth who will not strive for merit and distinction because it is just not easy, plus it just won’t get me the cellphone I want.

I hope I am wrong. I hope that we haven’t really lost it. I hope this is just my cynical (broke) self talking. I hope that if John Kerry wins, he will be good to business and allow them to still get Manila’s cheap labor. Beggars can’t be choosers.